Color to Simplicity
by Aniphine
Summary: A collection of one-shots about Chell and Wheatley. Chapter 1: Chell contemplates her past decisions and the future, after a nearly deadly fall. Chapter 2: Both feeling guilt, Chell and Wheatley voice their feelings into the night. Chapter 3: Chell deals with the emotional repercussions of leaving Aperture.  Chelly
1. Not A Lie

Chell coughed breathlessly as all the air was forced from her lungs; a sound nearly drowned out by the loud, unnerving, rattle of the metal beneath her. Aged and unattended, the thin, weak, metal catwalk underneath her stunned body, trembled violently and cried from the abrupt weight that crashed against it.

Chell laid flat on her back, the cold, neglected metal pressed against her bare arms, sending a chill through her as her mind wheeled from the impact and her lungs stretched across what seemed an impossible void, for the oxygen that eluded her.

For seconds, she coughed and gasped as her mind came full circle and engaged. The first thought clawed to the forefront of her mind and made her heart jump was, 'Where is the portal gun?' The thought of dropping it in the fall made the faintest of breaths she had gained, catch in her throat. Her head shot up just as her hand tightened around what she saw to be gun, still clutched in her hand. She let out a relieved breath and rested her head back against the metal walkway, silently cursing herself for her clumsiness.

Suddenly, a frighteningly sharp shriek of straining metal rang out from the already shaking catwalk and her body stilled instinctively as every bit of attention keenly locked on the structure underneath her. She waited for the quivering metal to become tranquil, but then suddenly, the bars that held it secure to the wall gave and the catwalk broke away.

Chell felt brief weightlessness as it fell a short distance, but then painful gravity returned and slammed her hard into the metal railing that saved her from falling another hundred feet as the last of the weak and old restrains, attached to the wall, caught the walkway. A quick flash of pain spread across her back as the hard bars dug into her skin and through her white tank top; the pain feeling numb at first, but spreading quickly, making her wince even as she grasped at the bars for safety.

She knew the catwalk wouldn't hold much longer and all other things were cast from her attention as she scrambled for an idea.

Her free hand shot out and grasped tightly at the edge of the walkway, clutching the cold metal in her fingers and pushing the soles of her shoes against the railing to pull herself up. The catwalk screeched and whined at the movement, threatening to fall at any second.

Pulling herself into an odd standing position, her eyes darted around urgently as they tried to catch sight of a flat, white, portal compatible surface she could fire her portal gun at. Her eyes searched only a moment before locking onto such a spot - against a wall, beside a similar catwalk and high above her.

She raised the portal gun to align with the far above wall and squeezed the left half of her hand around the handle, firing the gun. She absorbed the slight, audible recoil up her arm as the languid, orange matter shot across the cave and splashed against the stark wall surface, appearing as a perfectly oval, tangerine portal.

The catwalk quaked underneath her again and gave a little more. She clutched hard on the metal railing as the restrains caught it again and brought it to an abrupt stop, nearly making Chell loose her hold.

She was running out of time.

She aimed the portal gun at the bleak, pasty wall beside her and squeezed the right half of the handle, this time firing a blue portal made of similar consistency as the first. As it formed on the wall, an instant connection was established between the two and they opened from a simple, colored shape to a perfect window to each other.

She took a tight grip on the metal railing beside her and raised her foot to rest on it, preparing to leap into the portal, just as the catwalk broke away completely. She took her last chance and pushed with all of her might, diving away from the walkway and plunging head first into the blue portal.

The next thing she knew was pain blossoming in her shoulder as her body slammed into hard, cold, metal bars; a screeching and a splash of water sounded below her. The metal walkway underneath her body rattled with the sudden weight, but proved much stronger then the first and soon steadied.

She glanced down off the catwalk to see the other, broken metal walkway she had just escaped from, sink into the murky water below.

She breathed a sigh of relief and settled her head back against the metal bars, suddenly glad that GLaDOS - in her potato form on the end of Chell's portal gun - was still unconscious and silent.

What had gotten her into this predicament? She had slipped when jumping to a portal and not managed to land on her feet. Just another thing to add to her list of stupid moves - a list that was getting progressively longer. As she silently scolded herself for not doing the simplest of tasks, her mind couldn't help but wander to the largest of her mistakes. Namely, the incident with Wheatley - the very reason she was here.

Although she couldn't think of how she might have avoided it, her mind still couldn't let it go. Maybe it was the puzzle solver in her - unable to leave something until it was completely resolved.

Chell knew Wheatley was just an AI - computer program meant to replicate a human being; but it didn't seem to matter, when she thought about it - it was just information that existed, but she didn't care about. He had a quirky personality to him that made him personable, friendly… charismatic even. It made him seem human.

It made them an odd team - the puzzle solver and the AI. Wheatley had the plan - if flying by the seat of your pants counts as a plan - and she had the ability.

In a way, he was just like her - just as confused and not sure what to do, but willing and determined to try anyways, because that's what they were meant to do. He was created to watch and take care of the test subjects, she was created to solve puzzles and test the portal gun. Both of their sole purposes were for someone else's gain. Maybe that was why she trusted him. Maybe that's why she'd still trust him if he'd come to his senses.

He had power, and he didn't want to give it up. She could understand that. But why'd he betray her? Because it blinded him.

She could tell something was terribly wrong the second his voice changed. It was slight, but noticeable to her. It deepened slightly from his normally friendly tone, and his words became more calculated, rather then spoken just as they came to mind. She knew in that moment that something was wrong.

Never had she wished she had her voice so badly. She wanted to plead with him and tell him to calm down. Tell him that he could have the power and the control, but he had to slow down and think it out.

Like her puzzles. They made her think things out. If she rushed into something without thinking out the options, she'd either be there for hours, jumping from one end of the room to the other with no idea how to get out, or she'd miscalculate and be shot by the turrets, burnt with the lasers or fall into the toxic vats. Her body was littered with burns and cuts from her stubbornness. The tests were easy at first, but got progressively harder and she had to use her head. If she'd just calm down and think it out, everything would fall into place.

That's all Wheatley had to do. Think it out. Calm down, ease off the power rush and think. But he wouldn't listen, and GLaDOS just kept taunting him.

She had a resentment against him - how could she not? Something deep inside her that weighed like a stone when she thought of how he turned on her. But mostly she felt anxious - anxious to get out of this dark, open place and find Wheatley; anxious to talk to him. Nervous that he wouldn't listen.

Chell shook her head in an effort to clear her thoughts and brought her mind back to the world around her. Grasping at the metal railing, she pulled herself to her feet - the springs on the back of her shoes making a strange sound against the metal, and bouncing slightly with her weight. She held the portal gun in both hands; her mind and body fell into the familiar rhythm of looking for a solution to the puzzle at hand.

The cavern stretched on forever around her - dark, wet and massive. It was a nice change from the confined, white rooms, but was a bit unnerving in the same sense. In the testing chambers, she knew there was a solution to each puzzle, otherwise she wouldn't be there. Here, there was no such guarantee.

Her eyes moved around her, looking for the signature white surface and caught sight of a piece, not far from her. She backed up to get a clear shot and raised the portal gun.

The process seemed simple, routine and unexciting to her by now. Look, find, aim, fire, walk through; look, find, aim, fire, walk though… an ever reoccurring pattern; one that was only broken by moving into the next problem.

Sometimes she wondered if her purpose was worth anything.

But Wheatley changed things. He brought color and flavor to the tests, added a purpose to mindlessly solving puzzles - a chance to escape from it all. He brought new hope with his idea of freedom…

She just hoped he'd listen to her; that he was sincere when he wanted to help her… she hoped more than anything that, unlike the cake, it wasn't a lie.


	2. I'm Sorry

The whole world was silent. The quietness consumed everything around her and the world seemed to close down into peaceful solitude as the sun had drifted from the sky and plunged the wheat field into darkness. The silence was only faintly disturbed as the gentle breeze slipped across the wheat field, making the stocks gently sway and brush one another. A light chill mixed within a warm night teased her skin.

With her arms rested comfortably under her head, Chell lounged on the ground with the stocks of wheat crushed underneath her, creating a perfect cushion. Although it felt a rough to her fine and sheltered skin, it was a pleasant change from the slick and cold touch of tile and concrete. Her hair was loose and free from her ponytail, resting softly on her shoulders. Her feet showed bare, with her long-fall-boots discarded carelessly beside her, and her legs sat propped up on the charred and dirtied companion cube.

Her eyes shut for a moment and she inhaled deeply, taking in the cool night's air. It tasted sweet and light to her, so gloriously better than the heavy and stale taste of Aperture Science's recycled air. Everything around her; the wheat, the air, the open skies and the endless horizon... All of it... It filled her with such a delightful feeling.

What did it feel like? _Freedom_.

And maybe something else…

-0-

It was silent. Not just quiet, but silent. A deathly hush, an emptiness that he knew would never end. That's what space was... _empty_. Void of all things solid, or _sane _for that matter. So Wheatley just flowed; weightlessly, aimlessly. It was an odd feeling. Having no center, having nothing to hold you down or keep you firm. Wheatley never thought he'd say it, but he missed his ManagementRail. The line of metal that held him in place and restricted him from going anywhere Aperture didn't want him to.

He'd stay on that rail forever if it meant he could just have something solid. Something firm to hold onto. Just some weight; he didn't even need as much weight as when he was in his massive body - GLaDOS' body.

But maybe not. He deserved this; this pointlessness. This endless void and bloody insanity!

Oh, the _insanity_.

The Space Core drifted happily in the anti-gravity vacuum of space, clueless and careless of anything around him. Still calling out with the complete satisfaction and happiness of a small child, "_Space_." His voice hummed the word and Wheatley had to tune out his rantings before the last of his patience shattered. The Space Core was mindless and, truthfully, mind-numbing to all within earshot.

But Wheatley felt dull and distant to everything. Sunk deep in self loathing as he floated without direction or purpose.

Space was so different. It was utter freedom… but it felt like a prison. A dark, endless prison with a companion that was half crazy.

Bloody fantastic.

-0-

There was something. She wasn't sure what; just something. A feeling she couldn't peg; it felt faint, vague. Like a near forgotten dream, it was always out of her reach, dashing away into the recesses of her mind just as it was nearly in her grasp.

What was it?

Could it be… emptiness?

Could it be that… with all of the space, and freedom, and peace… that she felt alone? Finally, it dawned on Chell. Maybe it was because the novelty of her newfound freedom was finally beginning to dim, and she had time to reflect, to finally think what she was to do with her life.

Where was the puzzle? Where was the problem or the goal? What would she do now? She realized it for the first time. She had no purpose now.

Her eyelashes rose like a veil as her eyes, hued a fiery gold, drifted open, and her thoughtful and intent gaze stared up into the vast and starless sky. Her features still held the confidence and determination that had become her character, yet a dim spark of indecision flickered in her eyes and her eyebrows furrowed with a soft confusion.

The puzzle solver in her grasped for a solution, mechanically searching through every option and discarding those that didn't match up; just like the robots… the machines she knew better than her own race. But another part of her - the humanity that couldn't be extinguished by the hardships of Aperture - faintly brewed a thought. A thought that just wouldn't leave her.

Chell stared up to the moon; a perfect white orb placed against the blackness of an empty sky, gleaming brightly and casting down its dim glow across the endless expansion of field. In the vastness, the thought entered her mind without shame or hesitance.

Wheatley. She wondered if he was alright. What he was thinking. And… maybe… if he forgave her.

The thought of his name made her mind glanced back, as though trying to ease her heart with a pleasant memory.

_"_Oh…_ yes. _Oh,_ well done... _Oh_, that's tremendous. Yes, good, brilliant. That felt _really_ good." Wheatley moaned._

_A light blush crept over Chell's cheeks as she stared up at the screen oddly; her eyebrow cocked and her eyes filled with suspicious hesitance. Wheatley seemed to have blanked out for a second, and if she had a voice, she'd ask him, 'Just what in the hell was that?'_

"_Get on with the test." GLaDOS urged her. Chell pulled her eyes away and forced herself to get back on track. _

_She glanced over the room, taking in every detail. A small smirk formed on Chell's lips as the solution became obvious to her and she heard a quiet moan in the air, a gentle purr. The smirk slowly shifted to a confused frown as her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes traveled to the screen of Wheatley, whose blue orb eye watched her intently. His eye darted away from her fleetingly before locking back on her, as if impatient and anxious for her to continue._

_She turned away hesitantly and moved onto the test. Firing the gun and watching a portal emerge on the wall before walking through and emerging closer to the target. The gentle purr met her ears again and she followed it to the speaker of the screen that showed Wheatley watching her with a half lidded eye. She fought down an incredulous smirk. _

A ghost of a grin caressed Chell's lips as she remembered. It tugged gently until her mouth formed a half smile.

But, still, Chell felt heavy. Heavy with something deep in her heart.

What was it?

_Guilt_?

-0-

"_So much space. Need to see it all._" The Space Core gasped excitedly, spinning with bliss as his eye darted around frantically. Never seeming more content in his entire existence.

But Wheatley instead, showed solemn. His eye downcast and his mind quiet for the first time as he sunk deeper into self loathing, drifted senselessly in the abyss. Faintly, his mind listened to his companion's hums, blending together into a memorizing rhythm, while Wheatley stared blankly down to the earth, an orb of blue and green, half lit by the radiant sun that levitated so far away.

His heart felt heavy as he gazed down to the planet; burdened with a weight he suddenly would give anything to be rid of, as his thoughts went to the only human -_test subject_- that had ever shown him kindness. That had trusted him. That had helped him.

His thoughts went to Chell as an image of her flashed from the recesses of his possessor.

Her confidant and thoughtful stance. The calculated, yet kind glimmer in her golden eyes. The way she bit her lip when she found herself puzzled. The faint smirk on her lips as she found a solution. The way her body moved and absorbed the shock when she fell a distance.

Her dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. The sleeves of her orange jumpsuit tied carelessly around her waist. The snug fit of her white tank top, with the words, _Aperture Science_, printed across the front in professional black letters. The sleek white material of her long-fall-boots.

All of the details came together to form the most brilliant tester he had ever seen.

He wondered where Chell was. What she was thinking. Was she alright? If - deep down; somewhere in her heart - if she could forgive him?

As though to ease the remorse of his heart, his processor flickered as the pleasant memory returned to him.

"_Ah, brilliant! You made it through! Well done." Wheatley told Chell with a distracted urgency, "Okay, follow me. We've still got work to do. At least she can't touch us back here."_

_He moved down his Management Rail with Chell following closely behind him, when, suddenly, the sound of metal against metal sounded out through the room. Chell slowed her pace to a halt as, one by one, all of the lights shut off and plunged the room into darkness._

"_What's happening?" Wheatley's glowing blue eye showed stark in the obscurity as it darted around, puzzled, "Um… Hmm. Okay. Okay, uh… don't' move."_

_Chell did as he instructed and froze in the darkness, not shifting an inch, faintly wondering how sturdy the metal catwalk under her was._

_Just as she was beginning to wonder if he had left, Wheatley's voice returned, "Okay, alright, so I've got an idea. But it is _bloody_ dangerous." His voice hesitated, "Here we go…"_

_Silence. _

"_GAAAH!" Wheatley screamed and Chell recoiled away as a burst of blinding brightness exploded into the room. The world seemed to stop a moment as they both cringed and waited for something horrible. _

_Seconds passed and they stole a hesitant glance at each other. Wheatley showed intact, with his blue eye glowing brightly and a flashlight illuminating the area from his side._

_Chell's eyebrows furrowed as she gazed at him skeptically._

_Wheatley looked around quizzically, "Oh, for God's s-." He rolled his eye, "They told me, if I ever turned this flashlight on, I would _die!_ They told me that about _everything_. I mean, I don't' even know why they bother _giving_ me this stuff if they didn't want me usin' it. It's _pointless_. _Mad_!"_

_Chell nodded cautiously, before standing again to her full height. Her eyes ran over his form as she carefully studied him. Wheatley gazed back expressionless. _

_Her eyes suddenly locked with his blue one and her lips silently mouthed the words, 'You okay?'_

"_What? Oh, yes. Tip-top. Shipshape. Not that I'm a shape of a ship of course; I'm really rather round. That'd just be ridiculous. Just a figure of speak, as they say."_

_With a faint grin, Chell nodded and tilting her head to the side, signaling him to lead the way._

Wheatley chuckled quietly at the memory. But… he still felt heavy. Not with gravity or with physical weight, but… with something deep in his core.

What was it?

Guilt?

-0-

Guilt that she couldn't really justify. Wheatley was going to kill her; he was going to end her without a second thought and she had no choice. She had to act quickly and she didn't have time. She had to defend herself. She couldn't die after everything she had gone through.

But still… the burden didn't ease.

Chell felt remorse. Regret. No matter how she tried to justify it, she still felt there had to have been another way. _Some_ other way. She could have done _something_ else. She could have disabled him somehow -_anyhow_- that didn't result in _that_.

If he would have just listened. God, she wanted her voice so badly. Even for just a moment, so she could talk to him. To reason with him.

She had banished him to an endless void…

And she'd do anything to get him back.

-0-

Wheatley had waken her up and promised her freedom. And all he did was use her. It didn't mean to… it's just… _all that power_.

He was _massive_. _Powerful_. _Unstoppab_- well, uh, nearly. But he wasn't just tiny little Wheatley anymore. They couldn't order him around anymore, threaten him with death, blame him for all of the malfunctions of a decaying Aperture.

He was in charge, and it felt so _good_. But… now…

It wasn't worth it.

His smooth and accented voice said the words remorsefully, "I wish I could take it all back." His eye darted around vacantly, "I honestly do. I honestly do wish I could take it all back. And _not_ just because I'm stranded in space."

"I'm in space." The Space Core's high-pitched and robotic voice stated as he floated by.

"I know you are, mate." Wheatley humored the core, "Yup…" He nodded absentmindedly, "We're both in space."

"_Space_!" The Space Core yelled elatedly.

"Anyway," Wheatley continued, beginning to tune him out again, "you know, if I was ever to see her again, do you know what I'd say?"

"I'm in space."

"I'd say…" He thought carefully, "'I'm sorry.' Sincerely. I am sorry. I was bossy and monstrous… and I am genuinely sorry."

"I'm in space."

"The end."

-0-

Chell's sharp mind had always made up for her voice. She could always think of something when she was pushed into a corner. But it happened too fast; things didn't go according to plan. If she only had more time.

She wished more than anything that she could have solved the puzzle; found the solution to the one problem that meant more then anything.

Chell's lips mouthed the words silently into the darkness of the night. Wheatley's smooth voice spoke into the void of space.

Stretching across a vastness and echoing with each other,

"_I'm sorry_."

And…

Somehow…

They knew they were forgiven.


	3. Forward

So this was it.

All she had worked for. All she had _fought_ for. All she had lost.

For this.

Chell's breath slowed to silence as her eyes slowly, carefully scanned the horizon. The warm, gentle heat of the sun high above her, engulfing all senses and enveloping her in its comfort as a dull, but persistent breeze slipped and mingled through the wheat field and cooled her skin. A vast and golden wheat field spanned for miles before her, making her analytical mind reel from the thought of judging the distance. The sea of bright golden stocks, swaying peacefully in the gentle breeze with a rhythm that seemed nothing like the man-made or machine choreographed world she had known so well.

She breathed in carefully, savoring the new and nearly sweet taste of fresh air, and allowing her lungs to stretch further than ever before in an attempt to grasp as much as possible. The vastness of the atmosphere was unimaginable. The pale blue sky, showing thick white clouds in the distance and unimaginably massive; the stretch of land before her, making her eyes nearly ache as she tried to see it's limits; the very oxygen filling her lungs as she breathed in deep and heavy.

Vast. Open. Free.

And empty.

Her chocolate brown eyes shimmered with an emotion she wasn't very familiar with as her gaze hesitantly traveled back to the shed behind her. The structure built of what seemed to be a thin metal, and it held together sturdier than expected, considering the old and neglected look to it. Rust and dirt lined the corrugated tin and warning signs placed on the front where nearly indiscernible from sun exposure and grime. Scrap metal and beams laid discarded and corroded beside it, adding to the poor and ill conditioned look to it. Although shabby and unimpressive, the metal shed seemed to sit like a beacon of civilization in the vastness of nature. The only thing man-made for miles. Possibly forever.

Possibly the only man-made object left on the world.

Chell's eyes drifted back to the wheat field, her eyes seeming to search the open space as if it would offer her advice. She swallowed hard and allowed another deep breath of fresh air to fill her lungs as her mind seemed to stop in its thoughts for the first time. She felt torn - torn between the instinct to be free and the pull of familiarity.

_This is it._

With the thought resonating in her mind, a sudden throb in her chest made her gasp. An unexpected and dreadfully painful sinking feeling in her chest; pooling in her stomach and threatening to bubble up like the bile in her throat as the thought seemed to echo mercilessly in her head.

_This is it._

Was this wrong? Had she made the wrong choice?

What had she done? She didn't know anything up here. All she knew was to test. Aperture was all she had.

And she abandoned it.

Her dark eyes, shimmering with vulnerability, darted back to the shed.

It wasn't too late.

But wait.

What good was experience and familiarity, when it was a prison? Was it worth being a caged animal - a plaything - as long as it felt normal? If she went back now, all she could hope for is if GLaDOS decided to take her back - use her for testing.

No. No, Chell had already been replaced. Those two robots had already taken her place. She wasn't needed any longer. She had no place. GLaDOS would kill her if she returned. She had no where.

Her breaths came quick with the sudden emotion that rose inside her. Panic and fear flooding through her as the feeling overwhelmed her - a feeling she had never embraced, never entertained, but what was the point? What was the point of pushing away her emotions and focusing if there was nothing to focus on?

Her legs trembled underneath her and her vision suddenly swam before her, forcing her to stumble backwards as her own body revolted on her. Her hand darted out instinctively to catch her balance, but only met air as the metal heels of her long-fall boots clicked dully against the concrete slab under her feet. The small slab made of familiar material separating her from nature. Her hand met something solid and gripped desperately at the companion cube as she crumbled beside it.

No where to go.

No where.

She was all alone. With no hope, no future, no promise of success or even survival.

No where to go.

But forward.

Terror suddenly froze inside her; her breath catching in her throat as the thought rang in her mind, repeating and echoing as it consumed all other priorities. Clarity springing forth in her mind the more it rang.

_Forward_.

Slowly, her eyes morphed from their look of alarm. Slowly, stability spread through the dark color of her iris' as she slowly brought her gaze up to the wheat field stretching in front of her. The stocks of golden wheat swayed peacefully in the wind, seeming unaffected by her turmoil.

She was a stranger to this world. With nothing to offer.

But did it matter?

She was a tester. An experiment in every sense of the word. Was this so different from the tests deep in the bowels of Aperture Science? The surroundings, the colors and atmosphere was different than she had known, but wasn't also the cave?

It was an experiment, just like any other. It was new, but it was freedom.

Her eyes flashed with intrigue as another thought occurred. She would control her own tests. She didn't need to sneak along the dark corners of Aperture's crumbling facility. She was free.

No turrets.

No acid.

No betrayal.

Just her. And her companion cube.

Her gaze traveled to the charred and dirtied cube resting beside her. Slowly, almost experimentally, her fingertips moved carefully across the skin of the cube, feeling the smooth plastic of the shell as well as the rough and coarse spots where fire had tarnished it.

That's all she needed. The companion cube was her one familiar face, her one tie to the place she called home. The one creation in that hole that was always loyal. It was all she needed.

The beating, choking panic that rose in her chest and tightened around her lungs began to lessen. Slowly, the throbbing began to loosen from its hold around her heart and gently eased away. Changing and soothing into something else.

Hope?

Happiness?

Chell breathed in another deep breath of the sweet and fresh air, allowing her lungs to stretch and indulge in the refreshing feeling as her heart expounded in the vastness of the open space.

She didn't push away the emotion. She didn't hush away the feeling that rose inside her. She let it spread through her body and enjoyed the sensation it left.

The undeniable sense of freedom.


End file.
